


Farisees

by CloudFlower



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Fantasy AU, Fluff, M/M, Pining Levi, Some Mature Language, fairy!Levi, fairy!eren, human!armin, human!mikasa, pining eren
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-25
Updated: 2015-12-25
Packaged: 2018-05-09 04:07:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5524817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CloudFlower/pseuds/CloudFlower
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Secret Santa Gift for Sweethart/Captain-short-shit on tumblr who asked for Fantasy/Pining/Cute.</p><p>Eren has always been more fond of humans than the arrogant creatures that surround him. The only thing he's ever had in common with any of them is his genome, but life has a funny habit of twisting everything you thought you knew.</p><p> </p><p>Farisees: In the dialects of Herefordshire, Suffolk, and Sussex, fairies were called ‘farisees’, to the amusement of educated listeners, who assumed the term arose through stupid confusion with the Pharisees of the Bible, and often spelled the word accordingly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Farisees

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sweetHart](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetHart/gifts).



> Hello there! ヾ ＾∇＾ ~ 
> 
> This fic is a Secret Santa gift inspired by the prompts Fantasy/Pining/Cute and I tried to include all three of those elements in here. The ereri fan art i did isn't correlated via storyline, but the story and comic strip helped inspire each other (and another fic which I'll be posting later, but that one is much more angsty). Teen rating for multiple use of the fuck word. (^^ゞ oops.
> 
> (really quick to avoid confusion. In this fic fae=female fairy, fay=male fairy, the term fairy itself is gender neutral)
> 
> Please Enjoy!

Eren reluctantly made his way onto the grassland that connected the town to the expansive riverbank. It was exceptionally beautiful this time of year, with the flowers in full bloom and the trees a torrent of lavish green leaves. Yet Eren couldn’t help but feel that the quality of the scene was far inferior to the one in the fall. The river would be a bit shallower, the rocks protruding more prominently through the surface and the water would be too cold to wade through, but the trees would be breathtaking. Eren had always loved the autumn colors that decorated the riverbank and how he could sit under them unbothered as the other fairies huddled in their houses, afraid of the inevitable chill of winter that they could already taste in the air.

But during the summer it was always crowded. Especially on the day the summer festival started, when it was customary for all the residents to gather by the large stream of water to watch the dazzling display of fireworks that both children and adults looked forward to every year.

It was the biggest social event of the year; the first fireworks show was simply the beginning of the summer festival, but it could very well determine the person that you spend the rest of the event accompanying. So basically it was a time for the fairies to pick out potential mates…which is why for the past two years Eren had opted out of the event altogether and simply stayed home. But as sorely as he hated the large crowds and petty flirting of all the other fairies, he was still drawn to the awe-inspiring fireworks and various activities that were all part of the festivities. There would be performances by well-renowned singers and dancers, and large amounts of free food: the kinds of the things that Eren lived for, really. Families would often bring their children to the second day of the festival, which consisted of games rather than live performances like the first day. The last day was mostly for mates. The romance was nauseating and, unless you actually had a partner, it was wisest to stay clear of the day’s activities altogether. So despite the clear sexual tension that hung in the air, even though it was only the first day of the festival, Eren ignored it and waited for the evening shows to commence because this was the only part of the festival that he was okay with attending. There was also the small promise of meeting new fairies on the first day. Eren wasn’t necessarily opposed to the idea of making friends and, even though he spent most of his time in the fairy world alone, it wasn’t because he was incapable of socializing. The fairies just didn’t really _value_ those who were different from them. The truth was that Eren had a myriad of friends, just not ones that were the same species as him.

If his reputation of being a human sympathizer didn’t deter a mate, his strange habits and insatiable curiosity towards the belittled species usually did.

So he skirted to the edge of the crowd and walked with his head down. He didn’t bring a blanket to sit on or a picnic basket full of fruits and sugar water to lure company. Instead, he watched from under the branches of a tree as female and male fairies alike set up expensive pieces of cloth and coyly smiled at members of the opposite sex as they passed by. Occasionally a young fay or fae would pause and then change the direction they were walking in to go sit next to a fairy that piqued their interest.

Groups of friends arrived loudly and set up larger blankets with enough room for all of them to sit together. They laughed obnoxiously and splayed themselves on top of each other while they munched on their snacks. Eren continued to survey the crowd as the sun set and fairies began to buzz with anticipation. He caught sight of two boys walking hand in hand and it made his heart squeeze. It was nice to see that he wasn’t a complete rarity. He smiled slightly at the warmth on the faces of the two fays as they glanced at each other shyly. With a pang of jealousy, Eren forced himself to look away and focus on the fireworks show that would be starting soon.

His vision was slightly obscured by the branches of the tree that stretched overhead, but it was a price he was willing to pay for solitude. No one else would possibly want to sit here… So why were there feet headed this way?

He debated between keeping his eyes down to show his blatant disinterest in having company or to study the fairy and glare at them to go away. He didn’t want any drama this year. And even though in the back of his head he was still hoping for some kind of interaction with other fairies to make friends, he might not be completely ready for it yet. That is if his heart rate from a single approaching fairy was anything to go by.

The feet were definitely feminine, accompanied by thin white straps that coiled up the girl’s ankles and stopped a little below the knee. The straps flaunted small decorations that jingled softly each time she took a step. Usually a girl would be deterred by completely ignoring them. If that didn’t work, glaring angrily at them definitely would.

Sure enough, the delicate stopped in front of him. Glaring it was, then. His eyebrows scrunched together as he gazed up to see who was brazen enough to approach him.

He could feel his eyes throb with the force of his own glare, yet the fae only smiled down at him, ignoring the expression on his face completely as she regarded him.

Eren was so bewildered that the scowl, unbeknownst to him, morphed into a small frown of confusion.

“Hello there. I’m Petra.”

The fae had a kind appearance, complete with golden red hair that was held half up by a blue flower clip, the other half fell down to a little below her chin. It curled ever so slightly to delicately frame her face. The flower clip matched the azure summer dress she wore. It cascaded behind her in the summer breeze as she continued to smile warmly at Eren.

She seemed to be waiting for him to respond.

“I’m…I’m Eren.” He frowned at the unsure sound of his voice. He was hesitant, but he found himself not wanting to come off as entirely unfriendly.

“It’s nice to meet you Eren! It’s a shame that you’re off here by yourself—”

“It’s quite alright, I’m fine really.” The last thing he wanted was to have someone getting the wrong idea and clinging to him all evening.

The fae’s eyes clouded over a bit in disappointment. “I didn’t mean to impose, you just seemed lonely and I was wondering if you wanted come join me and my friends.”

Oh.

“Your friends?”

The smile was back, “I’m here with a group of friends. We all came to see the fireworks and we wanted to know if you would like to come sit with us. And don’t worry, my friends aren’t all female. They just voted for me to come ask you because most of them were too chicken.” She winked at him and then turned and pointed beyond the far-reaching branches, “They’re the group right over there. Look! That’s Hanji waving!”

Sure enough, Eren could make out a distant figure desperately waving, surrounded by a group of others.

“We’re all a bit strange, but we’d love for you to join us, Eren. Only if you want to, though.” She was peering at him again, with those large amber eyes.

“I…” This was a good thing, right? So why the fuck was he hesitating? Because he didn’t know if these fairies were pulling his leg or not. Only one way to find out, though. “Sure. I’d love to.”

“Fantastic!” The fae offered a hand and helped him to his feet, she was surprisingly strong and as soon as she had a hold of his hand she was tugging him quickly towards the group.

As they neared, Eren was surprised that there was actually only one other girl. And she seemed to be the polar opposite of the well put-together Petra. Her hair was a mess of chocolate brown strands that stuck out haphazardly from the ponytail they had been forced into and she wore thick-framed glasses that seemed to be strapped to her head. Eren could see that she had been the figure that was waving to him. Including the girl, there were four guys that stood in a small huddle, obscuring the flow of traffic around them.

“Hey, you got him!” A blond fay called out as the duo approached. He had long hair pulled back into a half ponytail and seemed as cheerful as Petra. The other three guys didn’t necessarily look as welcoming, but seemed nice enough. That is until Eren looked at the shortest member of the group. He was staring at Eren indifferently and after a quick once over, clicked his tongue, turned on his heel, and walked away.

“Took fucking long enough, we’re never going to get a good spot now,” he grumbled over his shoulder.

“Levi!” The brunette with messy hair chased after him as he stormed off.

Petra glanced at Eren apologetically, “Don’t mind him, he’s a little harsh around the edges, but I swear he’s a good guy. And it is actually my fault that we’re late so...” She trailed off with a shrug and then she was tugging on Eren’s arm again.

As they walked, Petra introduced him to Eld, the blonde who had called out to them before, Gunther, an average sized fay with hair that came to a strange point at the top of his head (which Eren didn’t question), and a weird fay that seemed a bit older than the rest of the group and only marginally more sociable than the short fay with black hair who had stormed off earlier. He had light brown hair styled into an undercut, another similarity he shared with the raven, though somehow he didn’t appear nearly as put together. He had interrupted Petra’s introduction to state his own name, which Eren promptly forgot because the fay chomping down on his own tongue—hard enough to draw blood—quickly distracted him.

“Don’t mind him either, he’s not really one for multitasking. Walking and talking is a bit of a challenge, I guess he’s just more acquainted with flying.” Petra offered as a makeshift explanation as Eren nodded distractedly.

The group continued to weave through the crowd, children darting overhead, until they reached the bank of the river. Except they didn’t stop there either.

“C’mon, we like to sit on the river.” Petra smiled and stepped away from him, releasing her wings. Eren was a bit unsure what she meant by ‘on’ the river, but trusted her enough to follow, releasing his own wings and taking off behind her. They didn’t fly very far above the ground, and Eren could feel bits of water splashing up and hitting his bare feet as the river collided with rocks, angled just right to send bits of the clear fluid skyward.

He found himself smiling as he followed behind Petra. He wasn’t surprised to see that her wings mainly exhibited the same light blue color as her dress; they were decorated copiously with a light jasmine color that complimented the azure. He spotted a few other blue wings in the crowd around him and someone up ahead had bright red wings that could probably be seen from the top of the riverbank.

Petra landed suddenly on a large rock, marking their destination. Eren saw that the owner of the eccentric red wings was none other than the brunette who had chased after the unsociable fay.

Eren landed quickly on the rock behind Petra and put away his wings just as the brunette turned to rush over to him.

“Hi! We haven’t been introduced yet, but I’m Hanji. The sourpuss over there is Levi.” Said sourpuss didn’t even turn his head in acknowledgment as Hanji introduced him.

“I’m Eren. Sorry to intrude.”

She was waving him off before he even finished his sentence. “Please don’t be, we’re delighted to have you. By the way Eren, would you mind letting me see your wings again? They’re very beautiful.”

Eren couldn’t help but blush at the request. He thought he saw the raven’s head swivel towards him out of the corner of his eye, but he must have imagined it because, when he glanced over, he saw only the same smooth black hair and undercut that had been facing him before.

“I…” He tried to formulate a reply despite his embarrassment. Wings were a large source of pride for fairies…and consequently were largely used to attract mates. Sure, as children, everyone liked running around and pointing out the different colors everyone had decorating their backs, but as they got older and learned how to release and hide their wings, they became more personal. Letting someone see your wings during flight was a demonstration of trust and friendship, but willingly displaying one’s wings while on solid ground to be closely inspected was an act of intimacy that made a lot of fairies uncomfortable unless it was with someone they held dear. It wasn’t that Eren didn’t like Hanji; he just didn’t know her.

It was like a stranger coming up to him and asking to see his underwear.

It was an analogy that Armin had mentioned when he told the boy about why he felt uncomfortable showing his wings to a small group of Armin’s friends that he had met for the very first time. Armin himself had seen the wings plenty of times, but they had also been close friends for years. Mikasa had seen them too. After all, they were his two best friends, practically family at this point. They weren’t even fairies, but it felt so natural being with them that it wasn’t awkward for them to study his wings and try to decide what color they truly were. Most days they settled for sea green or deep emerald, but more often than not they told him it was a green that couldn’t be compared to any shade of the color they had ever seen before. It wasn’t surprising that his wings mesmerized them because they didn’t have any of their own, but he never released them without being specifically asked and his friends refrained from ever touching them out of respect, even as they pointed out the flecks of gold that ornamented the ethereal appendages.

So Eren felt an overwhelming amount of relief as the exploding sound of fireworks erupted overhead and successfully distracted the peculiar fae.

“Ooh they’re starting! They’re starting!” Hanji buzzed around the rock, squealing excitedly and succeeding in almost knocking at least half the group into the river. Eren quickly sat down to avoid being shoved over and was happy when Petra came and sat next to him along with Erd. Levi sat a bit in front of his right foot, courtesy of the limited space on the rock, and Eren was extra careful not to move the limb, lest he accidently hit the tightly wound fay and witness an explosion a bit more deadly than fireworks.

As different spots all along the riverbank erupted into flaming bursts of color Eren couldn’t decide where to look. The entire night time sky seemed to light up and Eren’s eyes couldn’t move fast enough to absorb it all. It was thrilling to see the fireworks displayed from such an unadulterated angle, away from others and natural obstacles like the tree he had been under before. He had forgotten how much fun it could be to watch these kinds of things surrounded by fairies that screamed and clapped when a particularly enormous burst seemed to erupt right above them and shower down onto their heads. Levi was the only one he didn’t hear cheering excitedly, but it didn’t matter. Eren couldn’t stop smiling and as Petra leaned over to excitedly thank him for coming with them he could only beam at her in response.

Halfway though the show, Eren discovered the beauty of resting his feet in the river in front of them when he glanced over at Levi and saw that the fay had rolled up his dark colored pants and was allowing the water to wash over his alabaster skin.

The sensation was heavenly in the summer heat.

Eren spread his palms out behind him and threw his head back to gaze at the sky. He drank in the iridescent spectacle with wide eyes.

Luckily the show lasted for the better part of an hour, and by the time it was finished, Eren was blinking tears out of his bleary eyes.

The group stood up and stretched out their achy limbs, an unfortunate consequence of spending too much time in the same position. Eren could hear Hanji excitedly recounting the highlights of the display, adding in her own little popping and booming sounds, and paying no mind to the fact that these fairies had watched the entire show alongside her.

He turned towards Petra who was climbing to her feet with the help of Erd, “I’d like to see the performances at the theatre, if we move quickly I’m sure we can get relatively good seats in the mezzanine.”

Fairies who left the fireworks display early to get good seats would’ve claimed the ones on the ground floor at least half an hour ago.

Petra nodded at him and turned to Levi who also gave a firm nod of agreement.

“Where are Mike and Erwin? I thought that they’d meet up with us during the show…” The question came from Hanji and everyone immediately began glancing around as if they’d see their two friends materialize in the distance.

“Who gives a fuck? They’re probably slobbering all over each other’s assholes in some ditch. If they had wanted to find us they would’ve, we sit in the same fucking spot every year and Mike could’ve used that freaky sniff thing. Now lets go before we’re late for the performance too.”

With that, the fay released his wings and took off.

It happened too fast for Eren to see what color they were, other than the fact that it was something dark. But, much to his surprise, he found that he really wanted to know. So he quickly released his wings and took off behind the dark-haired fay. He heard a coo behind him and a laugh that he could only assume belonged to Hanji.

“I knew it! Your wings are stunning, Eren!” Hanji yelled the statement dramatically as she swooped in next to Eren and peered at him through her goggles, smiling with a crazed expression.

“Stop being so fucking invasive and focus on where you’re going, shitty glasses!” The call came from ahead of them, but before Eren could register what was happening a dark figure was beside him saying, “last time we flew in the dark the shit-for-brains crashed into a fucking tree.”

“I still believe that the tree spontaneously grew as I was about to pass over it!”

“Yeah? Maybe it was a big-ass venus fly trap looking to make you into its next batch of coprolite. Shame it missed.”

Eren’s whole face lit up as he laughed.

He saw Petra’s wings slide in between where he and Hanji flew next to each other.

“This is why we call him Corprolite. He’s the true captain of shit jokes!” The auburn haired fae yelled over the gust of wind.

The group laughed for the remainder of the trip, but abstained from making any more jests at each other as the air around them became more crowded with fairies also headed to the theater. They chose to focus their energy into flying instead of trying to yell over the rush of the wind. Luckily the group soared through the air at a pace much quicker than the average and they were able to pass the majority of the fairies also headed to the building.

When they scurried to the mezzanine, they were relieved to find good seats still available, but for some reason surprised that they hadn’t considered the idea of not being able to find seven seats in a row, which upon further thought seemed a foolish thing to think in the first place. There was, however, a set of three seats in a row and a set of four. Eren stayed off to the side as the others argued over who would sit where. Eren wasn’t sure who was fighting for what, but it seemed to be Petra and the old looking guy (that Eren still couldn’t remember the name of) banging heads in the final verbal battle. Petra won quickly.

Eren wasn’t quite sure what the final consensus was, but he did know that Petra was ushering him towards the trio of seats. Petra took one of the ends and beckoned for Eren to sit in the middle. For some reason, he was sure that Hanji would have fought to sit next to him, so when Levi came and plopped down in the remaining seat with a disgruntled sigh he wasn’t able to stop his mouth from dropping open.

“Bathroom’s that way.” Levi pointed behind him as he skimmed through his program, not even glancing at the brunet’s face as he made the comment.

“I don’t have to shit, but thanks for asking.” If he muttered ‘Corprolite’ under his breath loud enough to make Petra burst into a fit of giggles, he would never admit it.

He decided to make small talk with Petra before the performances started.

“So are there any artists that you’re excited for?”

“Hmm? Oh. Yes, I’ve been looking forward to Krista Lenz all evening!” She turned and smiled brightly at him, but seemed distracted by something, even as she began talking about how she had heard a lot about the Titans, a renowned group of professional tumblers. Eren had heard that they were incredible as well, and even though Petra was speaking enthusiastically, there was still something off about her behavior that he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

The lights flashed a last final warning for patrons to find their seats before they went completely down. The incredibly large audience magically fell silent within milliseconds and the stage lights flared to life. The host came out to introduce himself and announced the first few acts of the night.

Eren watched with rapt attention as groups entered the stage one after another. They were all phenomenal. It was almost the end of the first act when Eren felt a weight drop onto his shoulder.

“Petra?”

“Mmm?”

“Are you okay?”

His voiced was laced with concern as he watched her head loll against his shoulder.

“Mhmm. Just tired,” she murmured softly.

Eren swiveled to get Levi’s attention, but found that he was already watching them.

“Is she okay?” He asked in a quiet voice as the audience members around them continued to watch the show with rapt attention. His voice and face alike were void of any emotion.

“I was just about to ask you that. Does she usually fall asleep at concerts? She was so excited to see Krista too.”

Levi simply shrugged his shoulders and turned back to the stage. As another group of dancers left the stage, the curtains closed and the house lights were raised. Several fairies began filtering out of the large theatre to use the washrooms or simply stretch their legs. Eren briefly pondered the idea of following suite, but one glance at the sleeping Petra had him reconsidering. Levi didn’t move.

“Not going to stretch your legs?” He asked the fay sitting beside him politely.

Levi snorted, “And have to shove through a pig infested meat grinder?” The fay pointed towards the crowd filtering out the side doors and raised an eyebrow before facing forward again and shaking his head. “No thank you.”

Eren nodded in understanding.

“Y’know, if you want to go out, you can just wake her up, she might be a little grumpy at first, but she’d understand.” The fay was looking at the manila colored program once again, not sparing a glance at Eren, despite addressing him. Levi’s eyes brushed casually down the page as he lifted one of his legs to cross over the other in a more comfortable position.

Eren glanced at the fay contently slumbering on his shoulder and smiled softly, “Nah. That feels really cruel. I wouldn’t do that to anyone.”

The fay didn’t turn, but Eren saw him quirk an eyebrow. “You say that now, but ‘anyone’ is quite a general term.”

Eren smiled softly, “You know, I guess you have a point. If you tried to lie on me, I would immediately push you off. You’re obviously a drool-er.”

This got the fay’s attention exceptionally well. Several strands of neatly groomed black hair fell out of place from the sheer speed that Levi’s head snapped towards him. His face was livid.

“I. Do Not. Drool.” The words came out menacingly quiet, through gritted teeth.

Eren laughed.

He held his hands up in surrender, or in actuality moved his wrists upwards ever so slightly in what he hoped conveyed surrender. He didn’t dare move his shoulder for fear of stirring the sleeping Petra.

“It was a joke, I promise. I just couldn’t refrain from saying it. You’re so dignified and graceful, even with that potty mouth of yours, that the idea of you drooling seems absurd. And don’t worry, even if you fell asleep on me and did drool, I would never tell anyone.” Eren winked lightly at the fay sitting next to him and smiled broadly when he turned away and sat further back into his seat, huffing something along the lines of, “You can take your image of me drooling and shove it up your ass.”

 _Cute_.

He snapped his eyes away from the fay towards the stage. He could feel his heart start to pump a bit faster; like his body was terrified that Levi had somehow heard his thoughts and was suddenly much more inclined to throw him off the mezzanine. What the hell was he thinking anyway? Cute?!

He peered cautiously over at the fay, completely engrossed in his program once again. The pages were angled around both sides of his face to ward off any possibility of interaction with another member of his species.

Handsome? Yes.

Graceful? In his every movement: yes. In the way he spoke: absolutely not.

Cute? Not in the slightest: in any way, shape, or form.

The stage lights flashed again and Eren was all too grateful for the distraction.

A large spotlight came on and illuminated the conductor of the pit orchestra that sat beneath the stage. The orchestra stood, and a middle-aged fairy with wispy hair turned around and stretched out an arm to recognize the musicians on both sides of him before bowing deeply. The audience’s thunderous applause and cheers continued long enough to warrant another bow from the fay before the spot light was returned to the host of the show to announce that the next act would be none other than Krista Lenz performing a ballad of some sort with the orchestra accompanying her.

Krista Lenz walked on stage wearing a beautiful sapphire gown that trailed behind her. She took her place in the middle of the stage with a brilliant smile that immediately had the audience spellbound. The conductor gave a wide sweeping downbeat that had the orchestra vibrating their strings as they introduced the beginning of Krista’s song. From the light of the stage, the audience could see members of the pit orchestra swaying in time to the lulling ballad and as Krista began to sing, Eren almost released an audible sigh. It was lovely. He closed his eyes and sunk deeply into the back of his velvet chair, relishing in the mellifluous notes that resonated through the theatre up to were he sat, drinking in every note.

She sang about a place that was far away, almost unreachable, but there were people that she loved who made her feel complete and safe there. A place that others scorned, but had so much beauty and charm that was so often overlooked. And the people there were kind to her and taught her what it meant to love someone.

It was a heart wrenching song. Eren felt silent tears slip from his eyes as he thought of Armin and Mikasa as they waited for him. Always at the place where they promised to meet as he desperately tried to fly down to them. They always felt unreachable when he was here in the fairy world, so far below and removed from him. But he felt safe when he was with them and complete.

He wasn’t sure if Krista had written this song herself, but as she bowed to the sea of fairies before her and walked off stage with confidence and dignity, he couldn’t imagine any way that she hadn’t written the song. He couldn’t help but wonder if she was like him.

The rest of the audience wondered too. He could hear the hushed murmurs that spread like wildfire through the audience. Eren could hear the fairies behind him whispering to each other in hushed voices.

“You don’t think she was talking about _them,_ do you?” “There’s no way that a fairy like Krista would ever associate with those monsters. She’s much too dignified to stoop so low! Only a pariah would go down _there_.”

Eren almost flinched at their words, and they hadn’t even been directed at him. Well, this time. He had heard the same phrases spat in his face many times as he found his way back to his homeland after spending a few days with his friends. Exhausted from flight, he’d had to endure the mockery and judgmental stares as he made his way back to his house. Many considered him a suicidal nutcase that sought cheap thrills and an interesting way to get himself killed, while others simply considered him scum that had degraded himself and his species as a result of his fraternization with humans.

He squirmed uncomfortably in his seat as his body instinctively shied away from the voices while he simultaneously restrained himself from lashing out. These fairies didn’t understand. In their close-minded tunnel vision they had no idea what they were talking about. It was highly probable that they had never even set foot off their cozy island in the sky a day in their lives.

He didn’t realize how tense he had become until he felt Levi glance sideways at him.

He took several deep breaths and unclenched his now whitened knuckles. He became hyper aware of the half-moon depressions he had made on the palm of both his hands as he threaded his fingers together, attempting to appear normal.

Eren was so completely occupied in monitoring his breathing and racing heartbeat that he had no piece of mind to spare on the duet that was performing on stage.

He wasn’t the only distracted member of the audience.

Eren could hear a fae’s voice directly behind him still murmuring a constant stream of words. He couldn’t make out what she was saying, but from the pitch of her voice it was obviously scornful. He felt Levi shift beside him and turned his head to see what had happened. The fay wore a burningly hostile glare. Eren felt his body go rigid, but the fuming gaze swept over him only briefly and came to rest on it’s true target as Levi directed it to the fairies sitting immediately behind them.

The torrent of chatter immediately ceased, and Eren dully noted that Levi held the glare a few seconds longer than necessary before turning back around and relaxing his face into it’s comfortable expression of vague indifference.

Eren realized he had been staring, but apparently too late because Levi had noticed it too. The raven tilted his head and silently considered Eren with those vigilant silver eyes. His harsh features seemed to soften a bit and after a moment he nodded slightly and returned to the show.

Eren swallowed thickly and focused his eyes back on the stage. The host announced the final act of the night, as the stage was set behind him. The heavy red curtains were pulled open to reveal a myriad of dancers who had changed into coordinated matching outfits and were ready to perform the final act. The entire audience was soon enraptured by the synchronized steps that were executed in perfect time with the pulsing music that surged upwards from the pit orchestra.

The flawless movements of the dancers were only achievable through professional status and the fluidity of their bodies as they melded into a single entity was breathtaking. Everyone was in perfect harmony with one another, yet there was still chaos evident as sections of dancers would run off stage and leave a small group remaining, only to run back on at the end of the section as the piece morphed into a new phrase. Each person was a part of something much larger, however there were still many clear instances of individuality, either as a unit with a soli or as a single fairy with a solo.

Of course it wasn’t merely a dance; it was the telling of a story.

Amongst the sea of white there were a few dancers in a silvery ash color. They danced differently from the others, almost heavier. Like they were bound to the earth. Whenever the others leapt into the air they stayed grounded, splitting off from the choreography of the majority and then reconvening with them once again. The two groups merged together and separated continuously, but never really interacted.

The group continued to flow and shift until there was a single girl wearing that ashy silver color alone in the center of the stage. She spun, lifting one leg gracefully into the air until it extended behind her head and twirled around like the others, but then suddenly collapsed in the middle of the stage. The music intensified as the dancer elegantly rolled on the ground and rose back up, only to fall back down once more a few moments later. This time the other dancers in grey moved to help her, but when one of them reached out to a dancer wearing white they were pushed away and they too fell onto the ground, legs flipping over their head.

The girl went still and two members of her group lifted her into the air. Her arms hung down limply as she was moved and the other performers in silver formed a small entourage around her as the music swelled and sung out mournfully. The members in white continued with the phrase until the group fully exited the stage at which point they resumed the positions the piece had started in and the music replayed the happy tune from the beginning.

The lights darkened and there was a tense moment of silence before the audience began clapping.

The lights came back on and the group reentered swiftly and bowed, at which point they were joined by the other performers of the night, and together they waved as the curtain came back across and the house lights came on.

The orchestra continued to play calming music as chatter began to fill the building. Eren turned towards Petra to gently urge the fae out of her slumber. She was much easier to rouse than he had expected, given the number of times he had jostled her head during the performance that hadn’t even phased the sleeping fae. She let out a loud yawn as she extended her arms upward, stretching out her back. She turned to Eren and smiled brightly.

“Thanks for letting me use your shoulder.” Fairies in front and behind them were standing up and stretching as well, old fays glancing at their silver watches and mumbling to their wives about going home. Groups of friends clustered together to talk about how amazing the acts were and huddles of squealing fae recounted the attractiveness of their favorite performer.

“Yeah, no problem. I'm just glad you didn't drool." He laughed and smiled reassuringly. Petra let out a loud sigh of relief.

A loud yell came from behind Petra and Eren peered over her shoulder to see Hanji jumping up and down, waving excitedly.

The copper haired girl spun around and waved back. She turned back to Eren and spoke quickly, “Hanji actually has my purse and all my stuff, so I need to go meet up with her and then we’ll go home together since we live really close.” She paused and looked past Eren at Levi who was had climbed to his feet and was watching the exchange with his usual indifference.

“It was lovely meeting you, Eren, we should do this again! It’s really late and I have to go with Hanji,” her voice and face alike were filled with disappointment, but her cheery disposition quickly returned, “But you and Levi can head out together! Be careful you two!”

With a bright smile she turned on her heel and darted towards Hanji.

“Oi! What the—?”

The raven’s demand for an explanation was cut short by Petra turning and waving one last time yelling, “Make sure he gets home safely, Levi! We’re counting on you!”

“Tch. Fucking shitty ass fucking friends,” The fay continued muttering obscenities under his breath and turned away from Eren with a huff, jamming his hands roughly into the pockets of his trousers. He stalked down the aisle towards the doors, tapping his foot impatiently at the fairies filtering out in front of them. Eren was startled out of his stupor when the fay snapped, “You coming or what, brat?” over his shoulder.

He stuttered a response and moved to catch up with the fay.

Eren stood behind the raven that was still muttering under his breath. He could see the folds on the back of his shirt that allowed his wings to come through clearly. They were just slits in the dark fabric that overlapped each other, but could easily be pushed to the side by the powerful appendages. He couldn’t help but wonder once again what Levi’s wings looked like. There was a chance that he would be able to get a glimpse of them on the way out of the theatre, but it was still really dark out, so the chance was slim. He found himself growing frustrated with the strong improbability. It surprised him. He had never cared about another fairy’s wings before. It seemed stupid to be thinking about it now. And all because Levi was _mysterious_ or something, Eren wasn’t quite sure what. Hell, he had spent the night accompanying an entire group of fairies and out of the five of them he'd only seen two pairs of wings, but the curiosity surrounding the other three never even crossed his mind for a second. It was pretty clear to Eren that his curiosity concerning a certain silver-eyed fay wasn’t necessarily rational.

He was pulled out his mind by a fay’s voice that was steadily gaining volume. Eren couldn’t tell what he was saying, but as the words became more coherent he found himself wishing he hadn’t bothered listening.

Some old fay was fulminating against the various acts of the night that had brazenly spoken out against the stereotypes the fairies had for humans or the ones that merely hinted at some kind of reform fairy society should potentially undergo.

It was the same anti-human slurs that he had heard a thousand times.

And would probably hear another million.

There wasn’t any point in getting angry about the bigoted comments, but he could still feel the rage boiling around inside him. He was grateful for Levi and the others still standing in front of him in the aisle, waiting to get out the doors. He was also grateful that the irascible fay was much further ahead of them and he didn’t have to listen to him for much longer.

“This is ridiculous! Why don’t we just fly down to the lower levels? Look! Everyone down there is already out, it’ll go so much faster!”

The fae that had been sitting behind them during the show had decided to start complaining again. She and her husband, Eren assumed, were still standing in their row a little further back from where Eren and Levi stood in theirs. He sighed. He had been hoping that the fae would give her irksome mouth a rest for the remainder of the night after Levi had glared so vehemently at her. Apparently not. And just when the other fay had finally gotten his pretentious ass out of the double doors too. One vexation to replace another.

He could practically feel Levi roll his eyes as he watched the fay’s shoulders slump and heard the sigh of annoyance that the raven didn’t bother hiding as the fae continued her petty badgering.

“Dear, you know it’s against theatre etiquette to release your wings and fly through the building. It’s more orderly this way. Everyone flying around would be chaotic.”

“They could certainly find a way to make flying around the theatre orderly! Having to wait on foot like this is just degrading! How is this any different from an _anthropological_ theatre where they all stand around like idiots?”

She spat out the word like it tasted foul in her mouth. Like it was a disgrace to even utter the term. Every time her husband offered a valid response to her obnoxious grumbles, she only continued on with some other grievance about the theatre or the events of the night.

“That dance was completely inappropriate. How could they end the show like that? It just ruined everything.”

“Well dear, the dance wasn’t necessarily about humans—”

“Don’t say that word!” She was practically screaming. Eren couldn’t help but turn to look at the hysterical fae. How could any living creature be so intolerable? And how the hell did she have such a husband?

In a way, Eren only turned around just to confirm that this fairy was in fact a real, living, and breathing fairy. And to see if he could find some answer to his second question while he was at it.

Her husband was standing in front of her and at first all he could see was the wave of a maroon fabric behind him. The male fairy had wavy brown hair and fatigued eyes, accompanied by light scruff around his mouth that only made him look more haggard.

_Poor guy._

As the fay tilted back and shifted to address his wife once again, Eren finally caught sight of the vixen. A tall female with golden hair coiffured into a series of intricate braids. Her face was youthful and despite her sour expression -that based on her attitude probably held permanent residence on her mug- she didn’t have any visible wrinkles. It was either a miracle of fairy blood or makeup. He wasn’t sure which. She had dark eyes that contrasted her light hair… and suddenly they locked with his, bottomless pits that were trying to swallow him whole.

“You!”

He spun away. His heartbeat was completely erratic and every nerve in his body was telling him to run. The look on her face when they had locked gazes was something he was all too familiar with.

“Dennis! Did you see that boy?”

“Darling it’s rude to point at others.”

“But that boy! Dennis, that young fay over there with the brown hair! That’s _him_!”

His entire body was shaking. Why wasn’t the crowd _moving?!_

He could always fly away. Down to the bottom floor. Sure the guards and theatre personnel would be pissed at him, but what were they going to do, escort him out? That would be absolutely lovely. They might ban him from ever coming back though. He could play the naïve idiot and hope they bought the act.

A hand encircled his wrist. He instinctively tried to wrench himself free of the grip, but it was strong. And it was coming from in front of him, not behind. His head snapped up, frantic eyes suddenly focusing onto one specific point. Silver.

The fay didn’t say anything at first. He simply stared at Eren until he felt like the raven had just thoroughly examined his soul.

“We should move.”

They started excusing themselves through the crowd, desperately pushing past couples and various theatre goings, all waiting patiently to get out the doors. At some point the hand that trapped his wrist had fallen down to clasp his hand. Long porcelain fingers wove themselves between his, and Eren couldn’t say that he minded as he trailed behind the shorter fay.

It was a shame that they didn’t get very far in their escape.

Polished claws dug into his shoulder as he was yanked backwards.

“I knew it! You’re _that_ fairy boy aren’t you? It’s a wonder you’re still even allowed up here. If the high council doesn’t put a leash on you soon you’re going to get us all killed!”

The words hurt, naturally, but he was used to them. So what hurt a hell of a lot more was the way Levi’s hand went limp in his. This is why he had given up any hope of trying to become friends with other fairies. They always got dragged into his messes and then wanted nothing to do with him. Whether it was the verbal assault or their exposure to a somehow ‘fuller’ truth that chased them away he would never know.

So even as the female jabbed her dagger-like finger sharply into his chest, what really made his eyes shut in pain was the way Levi’s hand slipped away.

“You make me _sick_. Just being near you I could puke. You reek of slime! Of that filthy race you love so much! _Pariah!_ ”

She raised her hand into the air and Eren braced himself for the blow.

But it didn’t come.

He opened his eyes and saw that Levi had stepped in front of him. Long pale fingers halted the manicured hand halfway through the air. After the initial shock, the fae struggled against the hold Levi had on her wrist, her face contorted into a sneer as she realized she wouldn’t be able to escape his iron grip.

“What are you doing? Let go!”

“Isn’t it ironic that your way of chastising him for being a degenerate lowlife is by turning yourself into one?”

The fae’s face went slack as she stared at him in astonishment. And then it was enflamed with rage.

“You scum! How _dare_ you!”

She promptly raised her other hand and slapped Levi smartly across the face.

“Levi—” Eren moved forward to grab the fay and pull him away, but he was shrugged off. The fay’s back was still facing him, but Eren could make out the bright red that stained his cheek where the fae had slapped him.

“Let go of me dammit!”

Instead of letting go, Levi took a step forward and leaned his face towards the other fairy. Despite the fae being a good two inches taller than him, at least, Eren could see her take a hesitant step backwards as the raven approached her, but his pale fingers still held her wrist in a vice grip. His voice was low when he addressed the blonde and Eren could barely make out the sinister words.

“You’re nothing more than a lowly swine, squealing to get attention and making a scene for no fucking reason. And I can’t fathom why you think you can threaten or talk down to me and my companion and not face the retribution.” Levi paused and leaned in closer, the fae’s face in front of him growing more pale, “I want you to know that I treat _everyone_ equally and just because you’re some rich fuck or a female doesn’t mean that I’ll make an exception.” His voice dropped to a deathly whisper that made the fae visibly shudder, “And the way I treat those who hit me is _I hit them back_.”

His words were punctuated by a resonating sound of skin striking skin.

Eren yanked on Levi’s shoulders again and this time succeeded in tearing the fay away. He could then see that the female fae was cupping her reddened cheek with both hands, staring at Levi with her mouth ajar. Levi wore a matching red mark on his cheek. Upon closer inspection, Eren could see that the fae had actually struck him quite hard—much harder than he had struck her—and his face would definitely be discolored within a few hours.

He felt a firm hand on his shoulder and looked up to see a theatre employee looking at him with a frown. At the same moment, the fae’s husband appeared and started making a commotion of his own, admonishing her for chasing after some random fay and pushing other fairies over to just to reach him.

The other theatre personnel rushed to the scene that was still going on between the husband and wife, who were now screaming at each other. After pausing to take in what the two fairies seemed to be yelling about, the employee looked down at Eren and, instead of reprimanding him, simply asked, “Are you two all right?”

Eren nodded, suddenly exhausted. He drew in a deep breath and sighed, finally letting go of Levi’s two shoulders as the employee let go of his. “We’re fine. I’m sorry about the scene, sir, we just want to be on our way home.”

The fay looked from Eren’s tired face to Levi’s swelling one and nodded. “I’ll escort the two of you out of here so that you can head home quickly and take care of that.”

Eren wasn’t expecting the fay’s kindness so it took him a second to follow after the fay as he began parting the crowd to the main doors.

“You’re slow.” Levi reached down and threaded their hands together once again as he all, but dragged him after the volunteer.

As they pushed themselves out the double doors, they both gave their thanks to the fay, who offered another nod in return.

Fairies around them were taking out their wings and jumping off the landing into the summer air. Freed from the walls of the theatre, the two fays felt like they could finally breath again. They stood there for a few seconds, drinking in the fresh summer air, before Eren turned to Levi.

“Um… we probably should have sorted this out before, but which direction do you live in?”

The dark-haired fay looked at him with a vacant expression and shoved his hands back into his slacks.

“Doesn’t fucking matter brat,” he mumbled. “I promised I would take you home, so lead the way.”

“W-what? But that was before this happened. A-and you should probably get home to fix that up. I already feel bad enough that you got it because of me, it would be that much worse if I forced you to take me home, when I’m perfectly capably of flying to my house by myself.”

He was growing frantic and fairies taking off around them were casting strange looks their way.

“Look brat,” Levi breathed, “I’m not _forcing_ myself to do shit. And for the record, that whole fucking episode back there only gives me more reason to go home with you. The last thing I want on my conscious is finding out that some other whack job decided to attack you.”

With a sigh, Eren relented. He really just wanted to go home and the promise of arriving there safely definitely had appeal.

“That way.” He pointed off to the right of the building they were still standing on and Levi released his wings.

They appeared completely black in the lighting, yet they still seemed beautiful. Depending on the way that Eren looked at them, the black seemed to reflect a deep purple or blue.

Levi pretended not to notice Eren’s staring and casually stepped off the platform.

Eren followed suit behind him and soared up next to the fay to take the lead, pointing out the way they should go once again.

If it weren’t for the bright moonlight and coruscating stars they wouldn’t be able to see anything, but as it was they were able to successfully maneuver around any abnormally tall trees that crossed their path.

After a short while, they finally reached the small sector of trees that Eren called home.

“You live all the way out here?”

He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly as they landed on the porch of the tree house to say good-bye.

“It’s nice out here. There aren’t any noisy neighbors to pester me about where I’m going.” His voice slowly died away and he looked down uncomfortably. He wasn’t particularly sure how much of today’s encounter Levi fully understood. It was hard to imagine that the fay didn’t know _any_ of the rumors that surrounded him.

A creek rolling over rocks far below them and an owl singing a three-note melody were the only sounds that could be heard.

“I…uhhh… thanks for tonight I guess. I’m really sorry about what happened.”

“Don’t be.”

They entered into another awkward silence. Well Eren thought it was awkward, Levi didn’t seem to mind it all that much. The dark-haired fay wasn’t exactly bolstering any kind of conversation.

“Not bad.”

Eren’s head snapped up at the sound of the velvety voice, “Hmm?”

“Your wings. They’re not bad.”

The brunet blushed furiously as he realized that he hadn't hidden his wings when they landed and they were still on full display. He quickly rectified his mistake, finally realizing why Levi had been staring at him for so long, but not saying anything.

“Thanks, I guess.” He mirrored Levi’s position of hands in his pockets and then verbally surged forward.

_Now or never._

“So… Petra asked me to hang out with you guys again. I hope that’s okay.”

The fay shrugged, “If you want to, I think that’d be fine. I mean, I know where to come and get you now next time we hang out.”

Eren grinned broadly, deciding to tease the fay before he left for the night, “Yeah that’s what I’m worried about. I can’t say that I’m completely sure you won’t chicken out on your way here after remembering the bitch slap you got the last time we hung out. Must have really hurt.”

Levi snorted and looked at Eren indignantly. “I don’t chicken out of anything, shitty brat. And there’s no way a tap like that hurt, dumbass.”

“Oh yeah? Those pretty colors on your cheek say otherwise.”

He heard a small grumble that sounded like: “at least they’re pretty,” but he excused it.

“Alright Levi. Get home safely okay?”

“Yeah, whatever brat. Have a good night.”

The fay released his ebony wings and seemed about to jump of the porch when he hesitated.

“I live on the east side. Large dark lyrik with a garden at the base. My house is on the right; Erwin’s is on the left. Mine is the one with all the herbs hanging around it.” He turned to face forward, “You now…if you ever need to… get a hold of me. ‘Night.”

With that, the fay took off. Eren could only follow his image for a second before it had became completely imperceptible in the night.

Eren couldn’t help but smile as he opened the door to his home and stepped inside the bijou tree house.

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I love feedback ヾ(＠⌒ー⌒＠)ノ
> 
> ([Tumblr](http://cloudflowerandherkami.tumblr.com))


End file.
